Ferrari rejects diesel for its future cars

Ferrari has firmly closed the door on the prospect of using diesel engines in its cars to improve their environmental performance, in spite of plans to do so by rivals Lamborghini and Porsche, writes Andrew English.

"Diesel is not a direction in which we want to go," said Ferrari chief executive Amedeo Felisa at the launch of the new California model, right, last week. "It is not in our five-year strategic plan and I don't think diesel is an answer to the problem."

The Ferrari boss does admit, however, that there will have to be major changes to its engine design if it is to meet its ambitious target of a 40 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from an average of about 400g/km to 280-300g/km by 2012.

Its recent espousal of large-capacity, naturally aspirated engines will be dropped in favour of smaller, more efficient units, perhaps with hybrid systems developed from its experience in Formula One. Ferrari's last turbocharged road car was the 1987 twin-turbo, 2.9-litre V8 F40.

"Reduced displacement is one route we will have to go – definitely turbocharged units with direct injection," said Felisa. "Hybrid systems will not be exactly as used in F1's energy recovery, as that's a very different set of demands, but we are looking at it."

Direct injection is used in the California's 4.3-litre V8 engine to improve efficiency and Felisa says this is the first step. "We could not get a compression ratio of 12:1 without direct injection."

The Ferrari boss also says that his cars might have to become smaller and lighter, with better aerodynamics, to reduce fuel consumption.

"We have decided to face the future," he said, "and we will need to use all our experience with petrol engines to solve the emissions problems."